It’s Tuesday 31st October, or All Hallows’ Eve if you’d prefer, and what’s spookier than a deathcore show and Hawaiian shirts. Employed To Serve headline Devil’s Dog, Birmingham, with support from Pupil Slicer, and Going Off: Hawaiin shirts mandatory, moshing and crowd surfing expected.
Racing through the Devil’s Dog’s doors at just gone 7, greeted by a sea of metal heads and Halloween attire, we arrive as the first support act, Going Off, are cracking into their set. The hardcore outfit tear up the stage drawing eyes with their wacky costumes and spirited stage presence. After the first few tracks of their set, Going Off are officially going off and we have a vigorous mosh forming before the stage. It’s worth mentioning here, that the mosh is pretty much started off by what looks like an intoxicated zombie Elvis- who devotedly sticks to his character all night: not a word said, just incomprehensible zombie noises.
The brutality and chaos of Going Off’s sound riles up the crowd and herds of headbangers fall into formation. Going Off’s lead vocalist is dressed in full clown uniform, and despite how disgustingly hot that costume must be making him, his exhausting energy is non-stop and reverberates through the venue. Towards the end of their set, mic sharing becomes an exciting feature of Going Off’s tracks. With the outfit’s bassist hopping on the mic to showcase impressive screams, and then the Employed To Serve guitarist taking the mic and filling up space in the mosh, Going Off provide an incredibly exhilarating opening set.
Grabbing a couple of drinks from the bar and swarming outside for a gulp of air before the next support, before we know it Pupil Slicer have taken Going Off’s space on stage. Made up off Super Mario characters, with the outfit’s lead vocalist dressed in full Yoshi attire, Pupil Slicer must be tormentingly hot under the spotlights. With an exciting set full of original tracks, Pupil Slicer showcase their invigorating deathcore/grindcore sound pulling in more and more people into the ever-growing mosh.
Pupil Slicer have a tremendous stage presence with a spectacular array of original songs, I only wish the vocals could have been broadcast louder throughout the venue. Despite tremendous metal screams from Pupil Slicer’s lead vocalist, it seemed the abrasive instrumental overtook and overpowered the outfit’s set. The outfit fully warmed up the audience, spurring moshing and neck-breaking headbanging, in preparation for our main act, Employed To Serve.
After a short interval, with adrenaline coursing through the crowd, Employed To Serve, finally, make their appearance on stage. Hawaiian shirts at the ready, the outfit already have so much power over the crowd before initially making a sound; the audience waits in submission to the higher power that stands before them. Kicking off the set with ‘Void Ambition’ and hence pulling the crowd into a hurricane of moshing, Employed To Serve have immense power on stage, and it’s both refreshing and hugely empowering to have the sheer force of a woman like Justine yield the mic. Hesitant at first to step into the whirlwind of mosh, due to it’s brutal and unforgiving nature, I find myself being sucked in, and not finding a way out till the end of the set. Joining forces and linking arms with another iconic female metal head, we skip contently into the wall of death, bracing for the turmoil that comes with favourite tracks such as ‘Force Fed’ and ‘We Don’t Need You’.
With the entire Employed To Serve setlist full of bangers, the show was totally immersive and intoxicating. Besides those already mentioned, more favourite tracks of the set include: ‘Eternal Forward Motion’, ‘Conquering’ and ‘Mark The Grave’. Towards the end of the set, Employed To Serve send out a dear friend, Sailor Taylor, on a rubber dingy into the audience. Expecting Sailor Taylor to be flop halfway into the crowd, the dingy held up and he got carried all the way to the back of the venue and back again. Looking up briefly from neck-twinging headbanging, it seemed the Devil’s Dog had been plunged into fury and chaos, with Employed To Serve wielding utter control. Bringing the show to an end with the intense and captivating track that is ‘Mark The Grave’, Employed To Serve tumble off stage making a break for the smoking area, desperate for the rush of cold air.
You can listen to Going Off, Pupil Slicer, and Employed To Serve on all major streaming platforms.
Going Off:
Pupil Slicer:
Employed To Serve:
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